


Bluff: A Hero's Rise

by Darkshardthedestroyer



Series: Bluff: A Hero's Rise [1]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Next Avengers, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Post-Avengers (2012), Protective Avengers, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-06 03:09:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13402158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkshardthedestroyer/pseuds/Darkshardthedestroyer
Summary: Amanda (Mandy) Murdock's world takes a turn for... well no one can really say for sure. Upon discovering her father 's well kept secret, Amanda decides to follow in his footsteps. Certain she can become Daredevil's one day predecessor, Mandy must evade her father's notice.Fortunately, she's not the only one who's not allowed to become a hero. Mandy joins the Next Avengers, to prove to their parents, that they're ready to take up arms to protect the innocent.If only they knew what they had gotten themselves into...





	Bluff: A Hero's Rise

My name is Amanda (Mandy) Murdock. I’m sixteen years old, and was born and raised in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City.  
The Kitchen is known for high crime rates, and even more so for our own local vigilante ,Daredevil.  
My parents are Matthew (Matt) Murdock, and Karen Page Murdock. My dad told me from an early age, about his secret abilities; however, he didn’t tell me about his vigilante nightlife.  
He would come home injured or bruised, and Mom would give boatloads of excuses, about stairs, trashcans, and even muggers from time to time.  
A few months ago, my life changed forever.  
It was my dad’s thirty-ninth birthday; Uncle Franklin (Foggy) Nelson was there too, though to my disappointment Dorthy hadn't come.  
He had been my dad’s best friend since law school; he was also dad’s law partner.  
Holding the cake, Mom wore a goofy grin, and waited for Dad to waltze in the door.  
A click, and the door and creaked open.  
“Surprise!” We all shouted.  
“For me? You shouldn’t have.” Dad smiled walking over to my mom. He was sporting his blood red sunglasses; (I don’t know why he likes them so much) I then noticed a nice purple bruise along his jaw. I was tempted to ask, but I wouldn't get a strait answer anyway.  
Mom set the cake down on the table.  
At about ten P.M. Uncle Foggy had to go home to his wife and daughter.  
I went to bed shortly after. Closing my eyes, I blocked out the sounds of the streets bellow. About a year earlier, I had begun to develop weird senses. It was like what my dad described, but only when I closed my eyes did my senses enhance. I could smell the fading scent of expensive perfume as a woman walked outside the apartment building. I could hear laughter from a block away. I hadn’t told my parents, but I had learned (with much difficulty) to block out my enhanced senses at night. What really bothered me was the sound of death, people in misery or fear, despair that only showed itself in the blackest of night.  
I suppose I probably should have told them, but they had their secrets, and I had mine.  
I was sleeping soundly when a crash emanated from the kitchen. Sitting strait up, I heard someone cursing loudly.  
I wasn’t afraid of an intruder, my dad had taught me to fight. I learned Karate, kickboxing, boxing, and jujitsu, from various people including Dad obviously . It was must for living in Hell’s Kitchen. It helped that I was also a gymnast, on the side allowing me to be more flexible.  
I crept through the hallway, and made my way to the kitchen. A figure was trying in vain to lift our toppled china cabinet. Picking up a broom, I flicked on the light.  
The figure as it turned out, wasn’t fazed by the light, and that might have occurred to me as weird, had I not been gaping at something else. 

The figure, was dressed in red leather, sporting a helmet with all too familiar horns. The intruder, was the Daredevil.  
I lunged across the room , trying to look menacing with my broom (not that I couldn't use it ,but come on it's a broom).  
“Hey!” I shouted pushing the broom against his chest. I didn’t care who he was; I wanted to know why he was in my house.  
“Matt?” My mom’s voice filled the hallway behind me.  
“Stay back ,Mom.” I turned to the intruder asking, “Why are you in my house.”  
His scowl was replaced with a grin, and a familiar voice asked, “What do you mean your house?”  
The confusion flashed on my face, and I rammed my broom into him , knocking the wind out of him. He groaned and sank to the floor.  
Mom yanked the broom out of my hands.  
“Stop,” She said sounding exasperated. “Matthew Michael Murdock, how dare you wreck my china, and Oh my goodness are your ribs broken again?”  
“Dad?” I shouted. “How can you be Daredevil? You’re-. Oh. Right super senses, Duh…. You’re Daredevil?”  
My mom and dad shared pained glances.  
A few minutes later my mom and dad had explained everything.  
“So were you ever going to tell me?” I asked quietly.  
“Yeah, when you turned eighteen. Look ,honey, it’s dangerous to know about your father. People have been tortured for knowing Daredevil. We didn’t want that for you...” She glanced away and winced,  
clearly remembering something she didn’t want to.  
“I understand.” I said flatly.  
“You’re not mad?” My dad asked in surprise. “Foggy didn’t talk to me for weeks after he found out.”  
“I can’t be mad since I have a secret of my own.” Both my parents had a worried look on their faces. “I have senses like Dad’s. Every time I close my eyes, I can hear, smell, and ‘see’ So to speak. It’s like...”  
“A world on fire.” My dad guessed. I nodded.  
“I learned to block it out.”  
There was an uncomfortable silence.  
“Well now all secrets are in the open; I’m glad you know, it means I can stop using crappy excuses for why your dad comes home injured.” Mom finally announced jabbed Dad in the ribs.  
“Ow! My ribs are broken!” He yelped causing Mom to huff.  
“Say, Daredevil doesn’t need a sidekick does he?” I asked hopefully.

My parents sent me back to bed after the china was cleaned up. I had been told not to involve myself with or tell anyone about dad’s nightlife.  
Two weeks later, summer break was over. It had been decided that I would go to Midtown high, the best public high school in the state of New York, most kids would disagree.  
It was special for another reason though, the Avengers sent their own kids there.  
Their kids were all my age give or take a year.  
There was James Rogers, son of Captain America and Black widow; Francis Barton, the son of Hawkeye; Torunn Thorsdottir, the daughter of Thor; Henry Pym, Jr., the son of Antman; and Azari, son of the Black Panther.  
They talked with kids in the hallway, but sat together alone at a cafeteria table in a corner of the lunch room.  
I sat with Dorthy Nelson, my best friend and the daughter of Foggy Nelson, she was a super geek. She loved all things superheroes, and wanted to one day start some sort of super-hospital...  
“I can’t believe we’re sitting ten feet away from the real Avenger’s Kids.” She beamed. Smiling I stuck my spoon into lumpy mashed potatoes.  
“Yeah it’s pretty neat.”  
“So does your dad work with the Avengers?” She asked in a whisper.  
I looked at her surprised. “You know?”  
“My dad told me Uncle Matt was Daredevil right after you found out.” She shrugged. “Your dad, the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen… That is so cool! So… Does he work with the Avengers?”  
I shrugged again. “Yeah, he works with ‘em sometimes.”  
“I wonder what they their kids talk about...” I put my finger to my lips, and closed my eyes.

“That is the worst idea in all of Midguard!”Torunn scowled.  
“I know, but I’m tired of having my parents abilities, and not being allowed to use them.” James sighed.  
“So what? We form a superhero team behind our parents backs? They… Will… Kill… us!” Francis pointed out.  
“Not if they don’t know...” Azari shot back.  
Clutching my tray, I lurched up from the table. “I’ll be back.” I smiled.  
Dorthy looked at me in shock as I jogged over to the young Avenger’s table.  
Plopping my tray down in an empty space, I sat down.  
“Who are you?” Torunn asked, she was giving me the Stink eye, and I was wondering if it was a Thor thing...Or maybe Torunn picked it up from her insane uncle.  
“Amanda Murdock. Daughter of Matthew Murdock, Daredevil.” I smiled.

They gave a very surprised look.  
“I couldn’t help but hear your conversation. You see, I have abilities like my dad’s. He ,however, won’t let me have any part in his night time activities. To be fair I didn’t know about him being Daredevil until two weeks ago, I want to join you.” I said.  
“You can fight?” James asked thoughtfully.  
“I’m the daughter of a master martial artist, and I grew up in Hell’s Kitchen… of course I can fight.” I said pointing my fork at him.  
“Well, considering you could rat on us… Welcome aboard.” James announced.  
“One, thank you, and two, I'm no sellout.”  
James blushed and suddenly became intent on having a staring contest with his lasagna.  
“Who’s in charge?” I asked quietly. Everyone shared a glance. No one knew.  
“Are you offering?” James asked causing me to nearly gag.  
“Ah, no. I think you’ve got things so well planned out, you should be in charge.”  
There were mutters of agreement from all across the table. 

We agreed to meet at a warehouse, where an illegal weapons deal was going down. A dress code of all black and bandannas to cover our faces was also agreed on.  
We would meet Friday of the next week, and I personally was excited.

I secretly bought a black skintight shirt, and pants. I also bought a black scarf.  
For the rest of the week, I trained to fight without eyesight, it was weird, but I got the hang of it pretty fast.

Friday after school , I scurried home as fast as I could , waited till nightfall and put on my new shirt and pants. Then I tied my scarf over the top of my head covering my eyes, and blocking my eyesight.  
I had told my mom I was going out with some friends for the evening, and apparently ,because Thor had to go back to Asgard, my dad went with the avengers on their mission in his place.  
I slipped out my window ,and used a flagpole to get to the roof.  
It took me five whole minutes by rooftops to get to the warehouse.  
A stack of what I could assume was massive crates hid the five young super-teens.  
I landed behind them without a sound.  
“Hey guys!” I whispered causing them to jump. A smirk crossed Torunn’s face.  
“Sheesh!” Azari hissed. 

“What’s the plan?” I asked quietly.  
“I’m not sure how many are in there…” James admitted.  
I put a finger to my lips for silence, tilted my head and listened.  
“Twenty heartbeats.” I finally said.  
“Okay…. that’s not creepy at all. All right, there are two doors, one in the front, and one in the back. We need to split into two equal groups, one takes the front, and one takes the back. Francis you-”  
“Hold on.” Henry interrupted. “We can’t go shouting each others names like idiots. We need code names.”  
“Good idea.” James said nodding.  
We all thought for a minute.  
“I’m calling myself Bluff.” I announced. My false blindness would be my bluff.  
“Wasp.” Henry Pym announced, "Just like my mother."  
“I need no special name; I am Torunn daughter of Thor.” Torunn scowled (no one dared to argue with her).  
Francis thought for a minute too long.  
“If you don’t pick one, I’m going to give you one...” I announced.  
He continued to think, shooting me a nasty glare.  
“Fine I’m calling you Hawkboy.” I grinned widely.  
Torunn snickered. “I like it,”  
“I don’t!” Francis hissed.  
“Too bad that’s your name now.” James announced, and Francis glowered.  
“My name is going to be… Patriot.” James announced.  
“Isn’t that one taken?” Azari asked.  
“Used to be. Norman Osborn stole Tony Stark’s iron man suit design and built a duplicate; of course Norman retired after becoming a super-villain, thus I am free to take the name.”  
“I’m calling myself cub.” Azari announced.  
“Alright so here’s the plan. Hawkboy, Wasp , and Cub are going to enter and neutralize the rear, and Torunn, Bluff, and I will take the front. Stay in contact.”  
He passed out communicators and we popped them in our ears.  
“The deal’s about to start.” I announced.  
“Let’s get in there.”

We broke off into our groups and stealthily approached our sides of the warehouse.  
Patriot grabbed at a cuff on his wrist, and a holographic shield formed out of nowhere. I couldn’t see it , but I could hear the humming. Torunn unsheathed her sword.  
“No killing.” I hissed.  
“I wasn’t planning in it.” She sounded insulted (my dad instilled a moral code in me , that could never be broken).  
The warehouse was so large that the echos were a little disorienting . The room had crates lined up in neat rows; the center of the warehouse was devoid of crates for the sole purpose of loading.  
I listened in on the people near the center.  
“Careful! There’s explosives in that crate ,you dolt! Hurry it up; I don’t want those idiot Avengers figuring out what we are doing.” Italian accent, heavy footsteps combined with a strained heartbeat…  
The guy was definitely overweight.  
I could hear heartbeats on all sides.  
“Uh ,Guys, we might have a problem.”  
We were surrounded. There was skip in James’s heartbeat.  
I engaged. Charging forward,I upper-cut a guy to my left. Spinning around my boot connected with a face to my right.  
James bashed someone with his shield, sending them sprawling, and drove his heel into another man’s gut.  
Slicing the muzzle of one thug’s gun, Torrun flipped him over her shoulder.  
I had landed two more, and from the grunts coming over the airwaves , the other group was facing conflict too.  
A fist connected with my jaw, and I was sent to my hands and knees.  
I lurched up despite the red fire in my jaw. Detecting his heartbeat, I grabbed his head and rammed it into my knee.  
“The target’s getting away!” I shouted. I had detected the stressed heartbeat trying to slip past.  
“Oh no he’s not!” James hissed. I heard a whiz, a thud, and a groan as James detached a shield and flung it at the fat guy.  
I closed my eyes and listened.  
Sirens.  
“We need to clear out now; we’ve got police incoming!” I shouted into the comms.

We retreated to a nearby rooftop and watched as the police arrived.  
Back thumping, victory dances, and cheering ensued, as we celebrated our victory.  
“Man that was so awesome!” James shouted.  
“I know right! Ow.” I hissed at my jaw.  
“Are you okay… Oh, now that is going to leave a nice bruise.” Torunn announced.  
“Okay, so you may or may not know this , but my dad is a master lie detector. I was thinking we go bowling while the night’s still young. It would help us not have to lie completely, and it’s my treat.”  
No one objected to this idea.  
“Where do we ditch out outfits?” Henry announced. I knew a place and led the way.  
“A vigilante currently working with S.H.I.E.L.D. named the Punisher has a bunch of these safe houses. After he brought my dad here, he abandoned it. I found it in some of my dad’s notes… I might have been snooping last week. Anyway it’s safe.”  
We hid our clothes and skipped elatedly to the bowling alley.  
I got home that night and went to bed. 

The next morning I awoke to a throb in my jaw. Sitting up, I stared in the mirror. I had indeed developed a nasty bruise along my jaw line.  
“Ow.” I winced.  
I walked downstairs. Mom was cooking, and Dad was reading something in a file.  
“Good morning ,Honey.” Mom said turning around. She froze with a horrified look on her face.  
Practically tripping over her self, she was at my side in an instant. Her fingers ran along the bruise, and I winced. "You don't have to touch it." I mumbled.  
She looked at me with suspicion in her eyes. “What happened?”  
Dad looked up. “You know how teenagers are mom, it was just a moment of oversight.” Giving me a look of disbelief, dad returned to his paperwork.  
“Where were you last night.”  
“Bowling, with some friends of mine.” I said.  
Mom looked at dad, and he nodded. I knew suggesting that had been a good idea.  
“How was the mission last night?” I asked hesitantly.  
Dad smirked. “We went to Europe, and the rest is classified.”  
“Oh ,Karen, Clint wants Foggy and I to represent him... something about tresspasing. I’m going over to talk to him, and I wanted to take Mandy.” He continued, sipping his coffee.  
“I don’t have a problem with that.”  
I beamed. I had never been to the tower before, this was going to be awesome. 

Dad and I decided to walk. He was using his cane as we made our way towards the tower.  
“You know ,Dad, you could lose the cane, and nobody would be the wiser.” I laughed as he hit the side of a fire-hydrant with his cane and weapon.  
I’m blind, Mandy, and you know what? I don’t think I’d ever want my sight back if offered.”He said with a smile.  
“Did you ever get to really see mom?” I asked quietly.  
He smiled sadly. “No, but I love her all the same.”  
We walked in silence.  
Suddenly he frowned, “You weren’t lying about going bowling… But you weren’t telling us everything either.”  
He cocked his head, and I’m sure it was because my heart skipped a beat.  
“I really don’t know what to say… I went bowling.”  
I saw a sad but resigned look flit briefly across his face.  
“If you need to talk about something, I’m here, but I won’t push you.” He finally said.  
I felt like a stone had come to rest on my heart, as we walked the rest of the way in silence.  
We arrived ,and turning to smile at me he spoke loudly. “Jarvis, let us in.”  
“Yes Sir, Mr. Murdock.” A British voice hummed out of nowhere. The door slid open automatically.  
“What was that?” I asked slowly.  
“Jarvis, Tony’s artificial intelligence.” Dad replied with a paranoid look. Foggy had told him about the terminator movie.  
“Sir, the children of the Avenger’s are in the common room. I believe they have already made acquaintances in Midtown high. If you’d like you can drop young Ms. Murdock off there during the meeting.”  
Dad chuckled. “What do you think ,Honey? Would you like to hear Hawkeye ramble on about tracksuit Mafia, or hang out with the Avenger’s children?”  
“Like you even have to ask?” I pretended to be incredulous.  
I was dropped off in the common room.  
“Be good ,Mandy.” Dad ordered before leaving.

They all forgot to notice me. James was reading a book on the couch, Torunn was polishing her sword, Henry and Francis were playing videogames, and Azari was sleeping. I crept towards them.  
Torunn and James had now noticed me, but I raised a finger to my lips. They nodded. I crept up behind Francis and Henry and raising both hands, gripped their shoulders, and shouted. They both flew like scared cats about a foot into the air.  
Spinning around they came face to face with me.  
“Amanda!” Francis shouted, glancing forlorn at his game that now bore the sign of shame “Game Over.”  
“Hi.” I smirked.  
Now Azari was awake.  
“I hate it when she does that.” Henry hissed.  
“Hi Amanda.” Azari smiled.  
“Please, my friends call me Mandy.” I smiled. “I had a fun time… er- Bowling last night.” Knowing smiles flit across the room.  
“Yeah we should do it again some time… I mean seriously.” Henry chuckled.  
I nodded.  
“We could arrange a bowling date for next Tuesday. Our parents are going to be on another mission.”  
“Yeah… sounds good.”  
“Okay,”  
“It’s nice to see the next generation, taking such in interest in a sport such as bowling.” Jarvis cheerily announced from the ceiling.  
We all stared at the ceiling... That thing creeped me out.

It was Monday, we all had different schedules so we didn’t see much of each other. Torunn was in my English class though. It was funny, because she would sharpen her pencil on her sword, much to the annoyance of our teacher.  
At lunch that day I sat with Dorthy, as was usual practice.  
“Hey ,Mandy!” The Avenger’s kids said from behind.  
“Whose this?” James ask.  
“Dorthy Nelson ,and she knows about my dad. She can be… trusted.”  
They nodded. Meanwhile Dorthy, was smiling, and about to go into fan-girl mode.  
“Alright.” James smiled as they all sat down. 

“Dorthy, we need you to keep a secret.” I said. “You cannot tell anyone!”  
I closed my eyes and listened to her heart as she responded.  
“I promise not to tell anyone.” She said raising her hand. She always made a promise with her hand up, and I realized it had something to do with being a lawyer's daughter.  
I rolled my eyes.  
“She’s not lying.” I said.  
“Okay, so there’s this new gang that’s on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s warning list.  
It’s called the W.K.Y.S. Our parents haven’t gotten around to it, and it’s a smaller nuisance. I was thinking we hit it.” James said.  
“I'th gof a vad feelin avout this.” Henry said through a mouth full of mashed potatoes.  
“Ew.” I grumbled.  
“Hold on. Let me get this straight. You guys are sneaking out against your parent's backs and being vigilantes?” Dorthy accused with a twinkle in her eye.  
“Something like that.” Azari affirmed.  
“What does the abbreviation stand for?” Francis asked.  
“Nothing about it on the database.”  
“So we’re doing this tomorrow then?” I asked studying my peas.  
“Yeah, we can meet at the safe-house.” James sighed.  
The bell rang and everyone filed to leave the lunch room, and Dorthy was super excited about us being superheroes. 

We all changed at the safe-house, and went over tactics again. James had been declared official leader, but I couldn’t help wondering how long it would be until someone else wanted their turn.  
There was one door, so we would approach together as a unit. We got to the door of an old parking garage, and then realized it had been boarded up. So we went to the window and pried the boards off there.  
“Isn’t this vandalism?” I scowled.  
“Yeah, James, are you sure this is the right place. I mean what kind of idiot seals themselves up in their own secret base anyways?” Torunn asked.  
“The kind that has a secret entrance we don’t know about.” James shot back.  
“Fair enough.”  
We slipped in. The bottom floor was empty; that much I could tell with the face scarf.  
We walked forward towards the ramp that lead upwards, then a clang followed by many more caused me to clutch my head.  
We spun around. Metal shutters were blocking all the windows out, the door, and the ramp.  
I smelled something strange. Hang on… NO.  
“Gas!” I shouted.  
I felt the world start to spin; my eyes slid closed, and I was dead to the world. The ground rushed up to meet me, and everyone else.

My head was pounding. It had started as a dull throb; however, as conscientiousness slowly returned, the pain increased. I was on my back, limbs sprawled out in various directions. I could distinctly feel warm breath on my palm, and realized I had my hand on Francis’s face.  
Torunn was at my feet, James to my left, and Azari and Henry on Francis’s right.  
I let out a loud groan. The world was still spinning; however, time was of the essence.  
I had little control over my limbs; so I used what little I did, kicking Torunn, and slapping Francis.  
They both let out moans as they swam back into the world of conscientiousness.  
“A few more minutes, Mom.” Francis whimpered, giving me an excuse to slap him again.  
I had enough control to sit up now.  
By the time we had woken everyone up from a drugged sleep, we had determined that we were in a door-less room, there were no windows, it had solid metal walls, and one air vent.  
“These people love hiding doors.” Henry sighed.

“I’m glad your finally awake ,Children. You made a mistake coming here, and now you will pay.” A gruff voice loomed over the speaker.  
“Think of this as a rat maze; what you seek is at the end. If you’re smart, you survive, and if not… you get the point. Have fun!”  
A door to our left slid open.  
“We are so gonna die.” Wasp shuddered.  
“Shut up.” I told him. “You think like that, and you will be dead.”  
We moved through the door, and were now in a hallway. We walked ten feet, and I heard a soft humming.  
Running my hands up and down in the air. I felt alternating hot and cold patterns.  
“Lasers.” I said.  
“Look at that switch across the hall, I bet you anything that turns ‘em off.”  
James exclaimed.  
“How do we see them to get across the hall?” Torunn asked crossing her arms.  
James reached down to the floor. A thin layer of dust had formed over probably over time. I wrinkled my nose as he stirred it up.  
“Now I see them.” Cub shouted. “I can get through!” James nodded and cub jumped. Twisting like no human should be able to, Azari was on the other side and pulling the switch in under ten seconds. 

The humming died, and we all warily crossed over. The next trap in the hallway of doom, was a floor trap. It left a gaping hole that vanished into nothing, at least that's what Torunn told me.  
“How do we get across?” Torunn asked, pacing the edge of the drop.  
“How far across is it?” I inquired.  
“Ten feet, I think. A wall cuts off the other side. Maybe it’s another door.”  
“I could fly across.” Wasp suggested.  
“Then what about the rest of us. There’s no switch. We all have to cross.” Azari said.  
“I can shoot a zip-line. Hawkboy said pulling his bow from off his back. He loaded an arrow, and shot with perfect accuracy. It embedded on the wall on the other side.  
Hawkboy then turned to James. “Patriot give me a boost I think I can reach the ceiling.”  
The humming of James’s shield filled the hallway, and he grunted as Francis stood on top of it, and fastened something to the ceiling.  
“All right let’s go.” He ordered.  
Hawkboy handed all of us reinforced arrows that were missing their sharp ends. He pressed a button and a reinforced steel cable shot from the device on the ceiling to the arrow on the opposite wall.  
Francis looped his arrow over the top of the cable, and slid across the massive gap.  
We all followed. My stomach dropped as I spanned the ten foot gap.  
Landing nimbly on the other side, we handed the arrows back to Hawkboy.  
“Okay lets keep moving.” Patriot encouraged.  
The wall in front of us opened, revealing more hallway. I noticed the echo of voices barely perceptible to even my ears.  
“Hold it.” I hissed. “Is there a vent in here?”  
“Yeah on the ceiling.”  
“We need to get out of here.” I whispered. “We aren’t going to get our freedom by completing this maze… He called it a rat maze; what happens to the rats when they complete the maze?”  
“They get the cheese.” Wasp guessed giving me a inquisitive look.  
“Then what happens?” I kept pressing.  
“They go back in the cage.” Patriot finished.  
“Right. We are not going to go free. Patriot give me a shield, and Torunn, your sword.”  
She handed me her sword, and James activated his shield. I stepped up on it, and used torunn’s sword to break the vent. I handed Torunn’s sword back to her, and pulled myself in the vent. Then helped the rest of the team into the vent.

The vent was cylindrical, allowing us all to sit. There were two square vent shafts running parallel to the hallway beneath us.  
“Shh!” I ordered. Though it was already dead quiet.  
I positioned my head so that I had an ear facing each shaft.  
It was faint ,but I could barely detect a murmur of voices from the shaft on my right. I pointed wordlessly, hoping our kidnappers wouldn’t detect us.  
James put a finger to his lips, and motioned for me to take the lead. I got down on all fours, even with my relatively small frame, it was a tight squeeze. If I had been claustrophobic, I would have gone into a panic attack right then and there.  
We trudged along; as we advanced along through the vent, the murmurs turned into voices.  
“Yes, I… Lost visual… can you see them agent 3?”  
“Uh-hem!”  
“Sorry, I meant agent 2.”  
“I----”  
The noise was blurred out by a screeching sound that sent my senses into a painful overload.  
Yanking my bandanna from around my eyes, the sound died away. I motioned to the others that our quarry was just ahead, while I tied my bandanna around my nose and chin like a bandit.  
I glanced back and James gave me a questioning look, and I put my hands over my ears hoping it would clarify things. He nodded so it must have worked.  
Stopping about ten feet farther at a sudden drop, there was about four feet of vent, and then through a grate and then the ground.  
The vent continued on after the drop, but the voices were very loud, even without my super hearing.  
Gripping the ledge of the drop I scooted forward and allowed my feet to drop.  
I bounced and threw my weight down.  
The vent grate gave out beneath me , and I hit the floor hard. I had to roll out of the way to avoid the following teens.  
We were in a closet. There were brooms, shelves, and other odds and ends, and to our left, a door.  
“What was that?” A voice hissed from the other side.  
“Check the cams.” We moved all moved towards the door ready for whatever was on the other side.  
“It didn’t come from the cams!”  
“You’re right!” I snarled kicking the door down.  
“You messed with the wrong teens!” James shouted.

The figures were dressed in gray outfits. They wore full-head pieces that had goggles for the eyes. On their shoulders were the letters W.K.Y.S.  
“Um no offense guys, but your outfits are the most ridiculous things I have ever seen.” I quipped.  
That’s about the time they engaged. There were six of them and we each took one. I aimed for the one standing to the right of the console, he charged to meet me.  
Torunn seemed to be making little process with the only woman in the group-a very fast calculating, and trained woman- and was steadily getting beat back.  
Hawkboy was struggling with a man who seemed as trained as the woman Torunn was facing.  
Wasp had shrunk down to the smallest size he could manage, -which honestly made him look like a fairy- and had begun attacking another man.  
Everyone was occupied with various people.  
I was facing a well trained martial artist. He took a swing at me; ducking, I caught his arm, flipping him over my shoulder. Letting out a grunt he landed hard on his back. In a beat he was back up and ready for round two. Our blows hit, and it dawned on me I had seen this style of fighting before. I finally received a sharp kick to the stomach, throwing me into the wall next to my teammates.  
They were winded, but not tired.  
“This isn’t working; they’re too good!” James shouted breathlessly.  
“We’re a team, so let’s stop fighting apart and work together.” Francis encouraged.  
James pushed himself up and we followed.  
We surged forward to meet our attackers once more. Torunn engaged the man I had been fighting. He was fast to knock her down to her hands and knees with a swift quick kick to the stomach. Leaping over him with a spin, I drew his attacks. Torunn motioned to me, and I delivered a punch to his jaw. He tottered backward and tripped over a now prepared Torunn , as she had re-positioned herself behind his legs .  
She spun around, sat on top of him, and punched him until he was out.  
There was a furious shout a someone drove a fist into my cheek. All I could see was stars and then the woman towering over me.  
"Come on ,Bluff, get up!" I rose to full height,and she attacked again. It took all my years of practice to finally grab her arm and whip it behind her in arm lock, bring my boot up to her mid-back and kick her into James’s opponent.  
James whirrled around and delivered a kick into the man who wasp had been fighting. The guy fell easily and sat on the ground groaning.  
All of our assailants were now on the floor being zip-tied in a kneeling position. I hadn’t expected that James would bring zip-ties, but oh well.

Torunn was ready to interrogate these guys. I’m almost certain she was sore from her beating, partially because I was; however, I was from Hell’s Kitchen, and that alone breeds us tough.  
Torunn rolled the man -that we had jointly defeated- onto his back.  
Asking him a string of questions, she pressed her sword against his neck.  
I finally got a chance to inspect him, and noticed blue lights shining through the gray fabric where his ears were.  
I closed my eyes, and focusing, I heard the high pitched whine.  
Suddenly the pieces formed in my head.  
The ear piece, the fight style, the grunt.  
“I will skewer you!” Torunn hissed.  
“Torunn, stop!” I shouted.  
All eyes were on me.  
Lowering my volume, “Please hand that here.” I asked.  
She hesitated then handed me the sword.  
“It all makes sense now!” I began. “This has been a trap from the start. The initials, the S.H.I.E.L.D. mission, the fight styles, I-it tells me everything!”  
“The initials, what do they stand for?” Wasp asked.  
“We- Know- Your- Secret.” I responded curtly. “So ,Dad, before I let you go. I am curious to know how you know about all this.”  
“Well the first night you came home, I knew something was up. So did the Avengers, who called a meeting to talk about it. That day you came to the tower actually. We had Jarvis monitor your conversation, and it was pretty obvious that your next rendezvous was going to be more than just bowling. So we laid a trap. We leaked some information about a new gang, and with the help of Director Nick Fury, set this all up.  
We figured it was small enough bait not to be too suspicious. Then, we waited. If you didn’t show up, then our suspicions would have been wrong, but they weren’t.” The man Torrun was sitting on stated sadly.  
By now all the adults were free, and the rest of us had our heads hanging like scolded puppies.  
“I’m the one who encouraged this. Most of the others didn’t want to, but I...”  
James began.  
“No! I didn’t want to sit at home, and let the people I love put themselves in danger. I wanted to be a part of this, and I willing joined. Don’t you dare put this all on yourself, James!” I hissed.  
“Yes, whatever punishment we receive, we receive as a team.” Torunn added. The others nodded in agreement.

Our parents weren’t sure what to say. Black Widow, Daredevil, Captain America, Tony Stark, Hawkeye, and Antman- were all present.  
“Well there will be consequences, but the Avengers and myself have already come to an agreement. Oh, yes and your mother now knows. Anyway, this was a test.” My dad began.  
“We wanted to see how effectively you worked as a team, and how you handled potentially dangerous situations. In case you were wondering, nothing in that hall was really dangerous. There was a net at the pit fall, and the lasers sound off alarms.” Captain America explained further.  
“We hadn’t expected you to use the vents; now there are some brains.” Black Widow finished.  
“We came to the conclusion that you should be an official team. Of course you’ll be trained by us, and yes, you will be punished, but that can be discussed later. We need to get back to the tower, and get your new suits designed. Also , Amanda you’ll be living there through the week, and can go home on the weekends. You’re schooling will be continued by specially trained S.H.I.E.L.D. agents at the tower.”

The walk back to tower was eerily silent. No one spoke a word, there were no cars, and the only thing lighting our path were half lit lamp posts. Arriving at the tower we went straight up to the common room, Mom stood there with her arms crossed, a frown plastered across her pale face.  
“Alright boys and girls find your parents. Have a nice long talk.” Tony sighed, before shuffling to one of his labs. I noticed that he was sporting a nice black eye.  
For such a small kid, Henry managed a nice right hook.  
We sat in stony silence at the counter, no one was sure what to say first.  
“I-I’m really sorry, and not just ‘cause I got caught, but because I betrayed any trust that was left.” I said softly.  
My mom shook her head. “Our Family’s been founded on lies; it makes me wonder how much trust there actually ever was...”  
“I’m never going to hide something like my powers, or my night time vigilante work again. Can you guys ever forgive me?” I asked.  
“Of course.” Dad chuckled wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “It will take some time, but I think we can work this out.” 

We all sat on the couch, and Tony -who had emerged from his lab with an ice pack- was going over the basics of our team. We would have all of the a-fore mentioned things, and it was made clear to us that we were to inform the Avengers before any missions for the foreseeable future.

“What about our impending punishment?” Azari asked quietly.  
Dad looked thoughtful before saying “Hey ,Tony, didn’t you say your suit polisher was out of order?”  
“Um… Oh, yeah, yeah it is.” He affirmed.  
“Well I think that the kids should work on polishing all of your suits over the rest of the weekend. It’ll help develop their teamwork skills too!” My dad shrugged.  
“Hey that works.” Tony said. I knew he was just glad he didn’t have to polish them all by hand himself now.  
“Okay, so we’re a team, we need a name.” Hawkboy said flatly.  
“Oh, we want to know your super hero names.” Hawkeye exclaimed leaning against the wall.  
“Bluff.” I said  
“Wasp.”  
“Patriot.”  
“Cub.”  
“I don’t have one.” Torunn said.  
“...” Francis shook his head trying to ignore the questioning glances.  
“Mandy decided that my name has to be… Hawkboy.” He finally announced, defeated. We couldn’t suppress a snicker, much to hawkboy’s desperation.  
“I like your names, and as for a team name, how about… Um. The Next Avengers.” Captain America suggested.  
We all agreed on the name. We also agreed that James should retain leadership.  
Though I once again caught myself wondering what would happen when and if the other kids would want their “turn”. With the help of our parents we designed our suits, and then mutually agreed to hide the designs from each other until they were ready.  
The next day we were up bright and early polishing Iron Man suits.  
“Oh, yeah put extra wax on that one.” Tony said through a mouthful of doughnut.  
By the time we were done, my well conditioned arms were aching, and we were all sprawled across the couch.  
“Good news guys.” Tony shouted; he was followed by the parents (including my mom). “The suits are ready!”  
My suit was a mostly black, but it had dark red knife proof mesh on the sides. The mesh also ran along my arms. There was a red B on my shoulder.  
“So I changed the design of your mask. Just a little.” Tony said holding up a mask that covered my entire face, but left the back open.  
It looked the same to me.

“You designed it so that you could remove the top half and see; however I designed it so that you can change tho opacity of lens with the twist of this nob.  
That way you don’t have to remove part of your mask at all.”  
He handed me the mask, and I pulled it on fastening the strap under my hair.  
It was dark, and I was once again seeing the world on fire; twisting the nob, the lenses lightened, allowing me to see again.  
“Thank you Mr. Stark.” I said excitedly.  
“Nuh-uh. You can call me Tony. I make everyone living here call me that.”  
“Okay, thank you ,Tony.” I said.  
“So y’know the one where everybody has a problem with lying and secrets?” James asked calmly.  
All eyes were now on him. “Well we had time to talk while polishing suits, and we all have one thing in common… issues with trust.”  
“So we’re thinking,” I broke in. “about an honesty jar. It’s kind of like a swear jar, but every time you lie or keep a major secret from your family, you put five dollars in the jar!”  
“That is a brilliant idea!” My mom stated. “Your dad owes 10 dollars already.  
“No!” Tony interjected incredulously “That would mean I’d have to tell you about the time I crashed my suit into a yoga class!”  
“Okay I’m in. This I’ve gotta hear!” Hawkeye laughed.  
“I agree we should have something to keep us honest. As team leader ,I declare that the honesty jar be put into affect immediately.” Captain America announced.  
“That goes for auxiliary members too?” Mom inquired.  
“That goes for main, auxiliary, and branching members.” The captain confirmed.  
“Terrific...” Dad muttered.

So it was five minutes later that a massive jar was sitting on the counter. Absolutely everyone – minus mom of course -- had put five dollars in the jar (Dad put ten).

I am Mandy Murdock a next Avenger, Bluff, and the future protector of Hell’s Kitchen.

**Author's Note:**

> Well... Tada! This was the first Fanfic I ever wrote; it's been sitting around kind of useless for a while. So I polished it up a bit. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and I'd love to hear how I can improve my writing for future fanfiction. I hope you enjoyed!  
> -Darkshardthedestroyer


End file.
